IRWINDALE >> Days after he asked his employees if they would move out of town, Sriracha creator David Tran took on City Hall and called out Wednesday to fans of his popular hot chili sauce asking them to help “Save Sriracha.”

The call to action came as members of the Irwindale City Council held a public hearing before about 100 people to decide if odors reportedly emanating from Huy Fong Foods’ facility have created a public nuisance.

The council unanimously voted to delay a decision until its first meeting in April on whether or not the factory is a problem. Councilman H. Manuel Ortiz recused himself from the vote and discussion because he lives close to the factory.

“We will try to do everything possible. We’ll do it,” Tran said afterward. “My plant has an open door. Anyone who has questions is welcome to first-hand see how we do it. Anytime we will let you come in. Anytime. You just make a call and first-hand you see what we are doing.”

Executive Operations Officer Donna Lam said Tran wants to stay in Irwindale, but asked his employees if they’d be open to a move.

Lam did not say if the proposed move was local or out-of-state.

City officials claim they’ve received complaints about smells coming from the factory even after the chili grinding season ended in the fall. The complaints caused the South Coast Air Quality Management District to investigate.

The AQMD said it has visited the Irwindale facility twice and has conducted initial testing at the facility. Spokesman Sam Atwood said the agency would have the results of those tests by mid-March. AQMD would make recommendations to the company based on its findings.

“To me, this is just a hurdle,” said Councilman Julian Miranda. “Once we get past this hurdle, I feel we are going to have a long-standing relationship between Huy Fong and the city of Irwindale.”

Miranda said he wanted details.

More than a dozen employees of the plant begged the council not to shut down the facility while only a handful of residents spoke about the odor problem.

Employee Juan Bravo said he works in the factory’s mixing room.

“I spend all day there, it’s like my second house,” Bravo said. “I don’t have any problems with my health. Since I started working there I stopped using my inhaler.”

One employee brought his sleeping 9-month-old baby to show who would be affected if the council shutdown the factory.

“To take away our jobs, it would be hard for our families, not only our families, but the families of the growers and all the businesses that work with Huy Fong,” said another employee who only identified himself as “Johnny.”

City officials and residents who spoke said they did not want to shut down the factory which employs as many as 70 workers during peak season.

“I was here on the council when we broke ground,” said Mayor Mark Breceda. “I was very happy with the facility and I still am. I love the hot chili sauce myself. I don’t believe this council has taken any action to shut Huy Fong Foods down.”

Resident Larry Burrola wanted to know what action Huy Fong had taken based on AQMD findings.

“I live here and there is a problem,” Burrola said. “I’m not saying we want the company to go somewhere else. I just want them to take care of the problem.”

Residents also said they wanted to work with Huy Fong. Many asked to have their health issues addressed.

“We are not here to shut Huy Fong Foods down, a lot of our kids love your chili. We want to fix it,” said Dena Zepeda. “It’s a nuisance to me. It’s irritating my family and my household.”

At the lengthy public hearing, a Los Angeles County Economic Development representative said the popular hot sauce is putting Irwindale on the map.

Two weeks ago, Huy Fong’s attorneys asked city officials to postpone the hearing after a joint meeting the city, Huy Fong and AQMD took place at the factory.

Huy Fong said it was working with the AQMD to do testing and then would install whatever barriers the AQMD recommended.

Tran said Friday the company made improvements to the factory’s “odor filtration system” and invited city officials to inspect the factory.

When asked by Miranda what actions Huy Fong has taken, Huy Fong attorney John Tate asked him to focus on the future changes the company will make based on AQMD recommendations and not piecemeal fixes.

Both Huy Fong and the city have accused each other of not working together to resolve the issue.

The city took Huy Fong Foods to Los Angeles County Superior Court in October seeking a temporary restraining order against the company because residents complained the odors emanating from the Sriracha factory caused their eyes to burn and coughing fits.

Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien denied the city’s request, which would have immediately shut down the factory in the midst of its three-month chili grinding season. In November, O’Brien ordered Huy Fong to shut down operations that caused the smell and immediately make changes to mitigate the smell.

Sarah Favot is an award-winning Los Angeles-based freelance writer. Most recently she was a data and investigative reporter at L.A. School Report, a non-profit education news website. Prior to that she was a staff writer for the L.A. Daily News covering county government. She is Vice President of the Los Angeles Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists.

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